THIRTY NINE

sorry about the white on white. makes it hard to tell how big the "bump" is. but holy moley! 39 weeks! how did i get here!?

also I'm trying to get creative with my outfits. my t-shirt options are limited as I don't really want to be showing off "under belly" or be constantly pulling down my shirt. so I've been rotating through about 4 or 5 shirts.
my scarf I purchased in Spain and I love it. It's often cool enough in the morning for trousers and a scarf, although this morning went straight to shorts (or short-pants as they're often called here) as I usually end up changing into shorts or a skirt by mid-day anyway.

I've been feeling lots of movement still! a few twinges earlier this week, but nothing since. my legs and feet feel heavy by the end of the days but thankfully no noticeable swelling - hooray! this is my first pregnancy that neither my feet nor my hands have swollen. absolutely amazing.
sleep has been a bit harder to come by, but once I'm asleep, I'm usually good until the morning.
I've been feeling quite a bit more tired during the later afternoon/evening but then often toss and turn once I go to bed. I must be still clocking about 6ish hours of sleep, though. which is more than I will be in a week or so.
I'm feeling fine with waiting until Mr. Uganda arrives on his own - although I am seeing my doctor on Tuesday and may inquire into a stretch and sweep as I had multiple (2.5!) s&s with Jude and that seemed to help things along.
I haven't lost my mucous plug (sorry if that's TMI) yet so I'm taking that as a sign that this baby is hanging in there 'til at least my due date. Jamie keeps hoping he'll arrive earlier. I feel confident that he won't. but whatevs.
I've been following a handful of bloggers who are also pregnant (or were pregnant) and due right around this time and it's been fun and exciting reading their birth stories (the ones who have had their babies recently) and making me excited for what's to come!
not much else is new other than I'm glad Nick is here so that if Jamie and I need to go to the hospital, we've got someone here to watch the boys. and Lisa arrives tomorrow morning so that's two people to help with the boys (which at this point is probably the thing I'm most anxious/concerned about) while I deliver at the hospital.
everything is coming together.

will update after my Tuesday appointment with more details of how that all goes.

32 weeks

My sweet and talented friend Beth took some maternity shots for me on Thursday. They all turned out oh-so-lovely. Except for the little black dot that is not on my lens, but actually inside my camera and appears on every.single.picture {and which we lovingly referred to as the "traveling mole" when it appeared on my face}, I love them all!
I figured I would use one for my bump pic this week.

I'm feeling pretty good. I have braxton hicks many times a week now and lots and lots of movement which is quite good although can be quite sudden and jumpy.

I got a ton of baby clothes from my sweet friend Aletha last weekend {on Canada Day} and sorted through them all into sizes. I'm dying to start rearranging the room and I may start rearranging furniture after Beth leaves. And by "I", I mean probably James taking a part the bunk beds at the very least and moving them up into the "party house". I'll probably use my nesting energy to clean up and clean out the "party house" for when Jamie's family arrives - on the 24th! So soon!

Only 8 more days until Jamie returns from the Philippines, but it seems like he's have a really good time there. Wish I could be there with him...perhaps Jamie and I will have to have an overnight getaway when his family is here. Maybe?

We're about to head out in a bit to MishMash even though it's a cool, cloudy day. I need to get me some bagels, tortilla chips and possibly an avocado or two to make some guacamole.

*oh and an assortment of the pictures that Beth took can be found here.

**so I weighed myself today hesitantly. still only at 11lbs gained! hoorah! but perhaps now is the time i should lay off the brownies and reece's pb cups, eh?

moving, moving, moving

It's a fun stage right now. {in a lot of ways.}
Mr. B is moving a LOT. In fact, sometimes I feel like he rarely stops moving. Often it's quite spazzy, sharp movements, but recently he's introduced a lot of large-scale movements. Like turning. Or stretching. Or something. I grabbed Jamie's hand today and put it on my belly and he was all, "he's going crazy in there!" and that wasn't even an extremely active moment. 
Part of me wonders, what does this mean? is he going to be hyperactive? out of control? super active and sporty? but most of me is just enjoying this reassuring movement and not really reading into it at all.
I asked the boys if they wanted to feel the baby move and Noah said, "um no. not right now." haha. 
Jude said he wanted to put his face on my belly which is hilarious and so Jude-like. Eventually he put his hand on my belly but Mr. B did not acquiesce to Jude's presence and was quite still. 
Either way, I am enjoying feeling him move although at times he can stretch out and it's quite painful. 
I will miss this feeling some day. I am trying to bottle it up so I can remember this on those days...

Spain and sickness

I've neglected this blog. All my blogs, actually. And the internet. We had no (free) internet in Spain and then since we've been home I've been really sick with a head cold/flu thing. I'm finally up and about (mostly) today although still extremely congested. How is it that pregnant women's immune systems are lowered and they can't take cold medication? That's just plain cruel.
And this time it was me who had to cancel my appointment with M as I was so sick I really couldn't make it in. So I've rescheduled for next Tuesday - Valentine's Day! I have an ultrasound in the morning at 10:30 and then the midwife appointment at 1:30. So hopefully it will be a really good Valentine's Day and I'll get to hear and see my baby!
There is a part of me that worries for this baby. I forgot to take my multivitamins most days in Spain and I've only been well enough today to remember to take them again. Is my baby getting the proper nutrients?
And then there's a ton of other things...the spray they spray up and down the aisles on the airplanes when leaving Africa (I breathed through my shirt). And then with being sick and having weird back pain...let's just say I've prayed a lot for this baby already.
Spain was lovely, though. I slept a lot and the boys did too! We could hear the ocean from our bedroom and during the afternoons in Nerja it got up to around 17 degrees which was absolutely lovely. It was like a warm autumn day. Absolute perfection.
We walked a lot on the beautiful, smooth, paved, safe sidewalks. Did I mention I forgot how much I missed sidewalks? No? Well. Wow. Who knew such a small thing would be so important to my mental health?!? Sidewalks. What a marvelous invention.
Anyway, right now I'm just trying to recover, get lots of rest (I've been in bed pretty much since we got home on Monday evening) and drink lots.
And as of Monday I was 10 weeks pregnant!

post-poned

I got a text yesterday from the midwife M, that she was going to have to reschedule our appointment. So I'll be seeing her when I get back from Spain. She said I had to go get an ultrasound before meeting with her so I'll do that in the morning and then meet her at around noon {they call it mid-day here}.
A bit disappointed that I'll have to wait until after, but excited for an ultrasound!
Also? Yesterday I felt like death. Today I feel better.
And...Jamie's getting the boys in the morning from now on so I can sleep in a bit.
Best.Husband.Ever.